TWO care workers have been jailed after they were caught on hidden cameras verbally abusing and slapping a brain damaged patient at a specialist hospital in Bury.

Rita Page, aged 69, and 33-year-old Lynette Crook were recorded calling 23-year-old Daniel Moran “scummy boy”, slapping him and jabbing him with a pen while they were healthcare assistants at The Priory Highbank Centre in Walmersley Road.

Today at Bolton Crown Court they were jailed for seven months each after pleading guilty to five counts of ill treatment of a person who lacks capacity.

Judge Timothy Clayson said their actions had “belittled and demeaned” Mr Moran.

Mr Moran, a quadriplegic, had lived at The Priory since January 2009 after being left brain damaged in a car crash in April 2008.

The mistreatment, which happened between August 28 and September 19, 2012, was uncovered after concerned family members installed a secret camera in his room disguised as a mobile charger.

Robert Golinski, prosecuting, told the court Daniel has little mental capacity and cannot do anything for himself, meaning he needs round-the-clock care.

The court heard Page, of Palatine Drive, Bury, was “mortified” when she watched the footage of herself while in police custody.

Mark Stephenson, defending, said Page had treated Daniel like one of her own sons and was convinced he could hear her, often telling him jokes.

Crook, of Victoria Street, Ramsbottom, had been called “scum of the earth” and told to “rot in hell” following coverage of her crime, defence barrister John Close said.

At a hearing in March, Page pleaded guilty to slapping Mr Moran on his leg and using abusive language towards him.

Crook admitted slapping his leg, using abusive language and jabbing him in the head and body with a pen.

Judge Clayson said: “By behaving as you did towards Daniel each of you broke, in a fundamental way, the trust placed in you by his family.